Netflix VP of Product Todd Yellin Is Exiting, Plans to Pursue Return to Filmmaking (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix veteran Todd Yellin, who has led the streamer’s product teams spanning functions from user interface to pricing, is leaving the company.Yellin, who has worked at the company for almost 17 years, will stay on at Netflix through September to help recruit his successor.

The exec is credited with an array of developments, including leading the creation of Netflix’s “tudum” sonic trademark and advancing the company’s personalized content recommendations.Yellin said he plans to pursue potential film and TV projects starting in the fall.

Before joining Netflix, he wrote and directed independent family drama feature film “Brother’s Shadow” and short film “The Eternal Pitch.” He also worked as a documentarian, filming political unrest in places like Tibet and Myanmar. “When I joined Netflix nearly 17 years ago, I had just released my first feature film and planned to stay for a couple of years to right my finances before setting out on another film project,” Yellin said in a statement provided to Variety. “Year after year, the allure of revolutionizing how movies and TV shows are discovered and consumed, let alone having the opportunity to evolve video storytelling, became impossible to walk away from.

This was a hellish decision but life is short and I want to get back to my filmmaking roots.”Yellin’s departure was announced in an internal memo to Netflix staff Thursday.